So a couple weeks ago we made the big switch. First Tyler moved up to the top bunk. He was SO excited! And then a few nights later Carsten moved in. Tyler had so much fun helping me organize his room, make space for Carsten's clothes and move it all in there. He was so excited to start sharing his room with his brother. I'm so thankful that he was looking forward to it and not feeling like his space was being invaded. I'm sure it could have gone either way. But these two love each other so much - they were both really excited. When we told Carsten he could finally sleep in Tyler's room, he just laughed and laughed and jumped right in.
He doesn't really look happy in this picture, but I promise he was!
Somehow I don't have a picture of Tyler in his new bed. I think because he just wanted to snuggle up with Carsten. :-)
Such a big boy in his big bed!
So how is it going? Ha. These two. The first night we put Carsten to bed first and were going to bring Tyler in after he fell asleep. But Carsten was a little scared in there by himself, so we brought Tyler in. And they talked until 10:30 before they finally fell asleep. The next night Tyler started whispering, "Carsten, get out of your bed. Climb up the ladder!" And of course Carsten listened. For two months he never once got out of his bed. But one night with Tyler and that quickly changed! After a couple nights we did start putting Carsten to bed first. He used to always fall asleep within about five minutes. But he was taking at least 45 minutes and Tyler just couldn't keep staying up waiting. So now we put them in at the same time and let them read in their beds for 15 minutes before turning off the lights. That was helping, but Carsten was still getting out of bed about every thirty seconds. Then earlier this week Carl pushed the music button on the monitor and it was like magic. Seriously. They just stopped everything. Nobody talked, nobody got out of bed. Carsten started swaying back and forth and then laid down and fell asleep, and Tyler was asleep soon after. It didn't work at nap the next day. But it has worked every night since. Not always as quickly, but it is going so much better! Our next step is buying some quiet music and a CD player for their room.
Naps on the other hand, are not going well. There were a couple days this week that I gave up completely and just put Carsten back in his toddler bed. But now it's been turned back into a crib and we are working on painting in there so that's not an option anymore. I feel like I've tried everything and the only way I can get them to sleep is by laying in Carsten's bed with him until he's asleep. Then Tyler is able to fall asleep once there's no one for him to talk to. A friend of mine gave me this brilliant idea to sit in there and read my Bible so they know I'm in there. I really thought that might work. And that it would be a more peaceful way to handle it than going in there every two minutes for hours. But I tried today and Carsten still just continually got out of bed even though I was sitting right there telling him not to. And Tyler kept coming down telling me he just wanted to be sweet and loving and give me a hug and a kiss. :-) I might try again tomorrow and see what happens. But today I gave up and laid down in Carsten's bed again. And he settled in immediately and they were both asleep in less than five minutes. I lay on my side next to Carsten and he lays propped up on my baby bump. It's adorable. He's going to miss that when it's gone. He falls asleep on it everyday, loves to feel his sister move, and today he discovered my tummy makes a great ball ramp. He spent the Super Bowl sitting next to me on the couch rolling balls down my stomach. :-) Anyway, all that to say, bed time is gradually getting better and better. But naps still need a lot of work. They have four weeks to figure it out before this little girl gets here. I really hope they get it before then, because they both need those naps!
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